anti-spam

It can be relatively difficult to read the tea leaves in the CRTC’s approach to CASL enforcement, because there is little public record of those enforcement activities. This was noted by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, in its statutory review of the Act. However, what signs do exist suggest that enforcement activities are accelerating. In 2016 and 2017, the CRTC announced only one undertaking in a CASL proceeding. By contrast, in the first quarter of 2018, there have already been two.

According to Micheal Geist, Professor of Law Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law Faculty of Law, Common Law Section Centre for Law, Technology and Society, “the committee has asked the government for a detailed response to the report, which should be forthcoming in the spring. The government can be expected to fully support the enforcement recommendations, but retain flexibility on the recommendations for further clarification

Canada has the most onerous anti–spam/anti–malware law (CASL) in the world. In less than a year, July 1, 2017, it is going to become even worse. That’s when the private right of action comes into force.

The malevolently-inclined are getting more ambitious (a 2014 study by the Ponemon Institute that evaluated security-breach costs in the retail sector suggests that average size of a breach is about 30,000 records) and more damaging (average loss is now about $105 per stolen record). The same study estimated that the average cost of a cyber-crime for the retailer is about $3.15-million. These are average numbers only: recent large-scale retail breaches have involved records in the millions, with costs similarly increased. Although the article was written before the holidays, the tips provided are still very useful to manage the risk of security breaches.

E-commerce offers tremendous opportunities for non-profits. Large advertising budgets are no longer necessary to reach a broad audience. Volunteers can be more easily coordinated, charitable receipts issued relatively inexpensively, special events registration managed with far less human intervention required. This is all good news for non-profits. But along with this new e-reality have come new e-headaches.

It should be clear that managing your anti-spam obligations will mean modifying your information technology processes. The CRTC has created comprehensive anti-spam guidelines that demonstrate some of the ways IT will be involved…

After three years of waiting, Industry Canada has finalized the Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations and set a date for Canada’s anti-spam legislation to come into force. Canada’s anti-spam legislation will be phased in over four years starting July 1, 2014—seven short months from now.